Sliding shelf



Du VELLO A. FERGUSON 2,564,473

Aug. 14, 1951 SLIDING SHELF Filed latch 15, 1947 Inventor. DuVello A. Ferguson,

H is Attorneg.

Patented Aug. 14, 1951 SLIDING SHELF Du Vello A. Ferguson, Erie, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application March 15, 1947, Serial No. 735,043

7 Claims. 1 My invention relates to sliding shelves and more particularly sliding shelves including provision for limiting the sliding movement.

It is an object of my invention to provide a sliding shelf including an improved arrangement for limiting the sliding movement.

It is another object of my invention to provide a sliding shelf having a stop for limiting the sliding movement and including an improved arrangement for effecting release of the stop.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a sliding shelf having a stop for limiting the sliding movement and including an arrangement whereby the normal grasping of the shelf for removal from its supports automatically effects the release of the stop.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention ref erence may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1' shows a fragmentary view of the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet including a sliding shelf embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the sliding shelf; Fig. 3 is a side elevation view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the rear corner of the sliding shelf showing details of construction; Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the detailed portions shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an elevation view of a rear corner of the shelf showing the relation of the shelf and one of its supports; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 with the stop in the released position; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 9 showing a modified form of my invention; Fig. 9 is a side elevation view of the portion of the shelf shown in Fig. 8; and Fig. 10 is an enlarged view taken along the line III-40 of Fig. 8 showing details of construction and illustrating the relationship between the shelf and one of its supports.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have illustrated the lower portion of a refrigerator cabinet including an outer metal wall I and an inner metal wall or liner 2, the space between the walls being filled with a suitable heat-insulating material 3. The walls are formed to provide a door opening at the front of the cabinet, and the space between the walls in the area of the door'frame of the refrigerator is closed by a breaker strip 4 of forms the food storage compartment of the cabinet and is shaped to provide a rear wall 5 and oppositely disposed side walls 6. The front of the compartment is closed by a suitable door (not shown).

A removable shelf 1 is slidably supported within the food storage compartment by a plurality of supports or brackets 8, which are mounted on the oppositely disposed side walls 5 toward the front portion of these side walls. The shelf 1 includes a rectangular frame 9 having a front portion Ill, a rear portion I I and side portions H. In the embodiment shown the rear and side portions are somewhat higher than the front portion so as to provide guards along the edges of the shelf to prevent food from slipping from the shelf when the shelf is moved within the cab inet or removed from the cabinet. In order to provide a-supporting surface for food stored in the refrigerator, a plurality of wires l3 are provided extending between the front portion l0 and the rear portion ll of the frame, the wires being secured to the frame in any suitable manner. A strip l4 extends transversely of the shelf in the central portion thereof for strengthening the shelf, and a plate I5 is provided along the front edge of the shelf to give a finished appearance. One of the shelf wires, for convenience in description specifically designated as l6, at the extreme right side of the shelf is arranged for supporting the mechanism used to limit the sliding movement of the shelf and to release the shelf for further movement when desired. This mechanism includes a stop l1 and an arm l8 for releasing the stop, both being pivotally mounted on the wire IS. A similar arrangement (not shown) is provided at the extreme left sideof the shelf. g

Referring now to the details of construction shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 the stop I! is mounted on the shelf wire l6 near the rear end thereof. In order to prevent longitudinal movement of the stop along the wire, the wire is provided with an offset portion l9 and the stop is mounted on the offset portion. In order to provide for moving the stop from itsv normal position to a position wherein the shelf may be removed from the cabinet, the arm I8 is pivoted on the shelf wire It at a point 20 which is somewhat forward of the central portion of the shelf, and the arm extends rearwardly substantially parallel to the shelf wire l6 and substantially in the plane of the shelf for engagement with the stop I]. At its rear end the arm I8 is welded or otherwise suitable heat-insulating material. The liner 2 secured at 2! to the stop I1. As shown in Fig. 2

the arm II is located toward the side of the shelf from the wire IS on which it is pivoted. In order to limit the movement of the arm lflvthe rear end of the arm is arranged to engage a portion 22 of the shelf wire l6, which extends upwardly from the plane of the shelf and is secured to the rear frame portion II. In the embodiment shown the portion 22 of the wire 16 is bent inwardly relative to the plane of the remaining shelf wires l3 in order to render it unnecessary to extend the arm it beyond the plane of the rear ends of the shelf wires l3. Where the invention is used with a flat shelf instead of the basket type shelf herein described, any suitable member projecting upwardly from the plane of the shelf may be used in lieu of the shelf wire portion 22 to limit the movement of the arm ll.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it can be seen that in its normal position the pivoted stop l1 extends beyond the side portion l2 of the frame so that it will butt against the rear support 8 when the shelf is pulled forwardly. The center of gravity of the stop I] is located nearer the side of the shelf than is its pivot point l9, and hence the weight of the stop I'l causes it naturally to assume the position shown in Fig. 6. In this position the stop is'arranged to engage the support 8 as the shelf is pulled forwardly. In addition the arm l8 also extends outwardly toward the side of the shelffrom its pivot point 20 and its weight causes it naturally to tend to move in a clockwise direction. Since the arm I8 is welded to the pivoted stop, the weight of the arm 48 assists in moving the stop to assume the position shown in Fig. 6. Although in the form shown the centers of gravity of both the stop and the arm are gravity-biased to the position shown in Fig. 6, it will be appreciated that, if desired, the stop may be allowed to move in its released position to a point where its center of gravity is to the left of its pivot point, so long as the combined center of gravity of the stop and the arm remains at all times to the right of a line along the shelf wire IS. The arm I8 is also positioned toward the side of the shelf relative to the shelf wire IS on which it is pivoted in order that it will project beyond the shelf wire 16. Because of this location of the arm l8 the fingers, or at least the forefinger, of the user come in contact with the arm when the shelf is gripped for removal from the cabinet, and this gripping causes a counterclockwise pivoting of the arm l8 which results in a similar counterclockwise pivoting of the stop l1. Since the supports 8 are both positioned along the forward portion of the side wall 6 and since the arm It extends somewhat forward of the central portion of the shelf, the arm I. will extend forward of the door opening in the limiting position of the shelf and hence will be available for gripping when the shelf is removed from the cabinet. Since, in order to properly balance the shelf, the user will normally grip the shelf near the center of each side preparatory to withdrawing it from the cabinet, his hands will naturally come in contact with the releasing arm l8 when the shelf is to be removed.

Referring now to Fig. 7 the releasing arm 18 and the stop I! are shown in the position which permits removal of the shelf from the cabinet. In this position the user has gripped the shelf for removal and his fingers have come in contact with the arm l8 and caused a counterclockwise turning of this arm. The rearward end of the arm 18 being in engagement with the stop t1, the movement of the arm I8; results in a counterclockwise movement ofthe Stop l1. As shown in this figure this movement causes the stop II to pivot inwardly beyond the support 8, thereby releasing the stop from engagement with the support 8- and permitting withdrawal of the shelf. As also pointed out previously the extreme rear end of the arm I8 bears against the portion 22 of the shelf wire it to limit the movement of the arm. As shown in Fig. 7 this movement is limited by the portion 22 of the shelf wire to a point wherein the centers of gravity of the pivoted stop l1 and of the arm M are still toward the side of the shelf relative to their pivot points Is and 20 respectively. This arrangement of the centers of gravity relative to the pivot points insures that the stop I! will resume its position for engagement with the rear support 8 when the shelf is reinserted in the cabinet and is no longer gripped by the user. This eliminates the necessity of the user's reaching to the rear of the cabinet to place the stop in its blocking position. It further insures that the stop cannot be accidentally left in the released position, which might result in the shelf being pulled in normal use beyond its normal limiting position with possible tipping and spilling of the contents thereof. Conversely the arrangement of the arm l8 as described above permits the user to release the stop II, when necessary, by a natural gripping of the shelf for removal and eliminates the necessity of his reaching to the rear of the shelf, which might require a shifting of some of the contents of the shelf.

Figs. 6 and 7 show how the arrangement of the arm l8 facilitates release of the stop I! by the natural gripping of the shelf. Referring to these figures it can be seen that the arm I8 is located outwardly toward the side of the shelf relative to a line'through the frame portion l2 the cabinet thefingers come in contact with the arm [8 in the same manner and the stop H is automatically moved to the position shown in Fig. 7 wherein the shelf may be slid into position with the stop l1 passing by the supports 8. When the shelf is in position and the grip of the user is released, the stop I! will naturally fall, as explained previously, into the position shown in Fig. 6. Although the arm 18 has been shown pivoted on the forward portion of the shelf, it will be apparent that the movement of the arm I8 by the natural gripping of the shelf can be insured by having an end of the arm extend forward of the center of the shelf and the pivot point may be located to the rear of the center of the shelf. As another alternative the entire arm may be located in the rear portion of the shelf, the arm merely terminating sufficiently close to the center of the shelf that the user in gripping the shelf naturally for-removal may easily shift the arm with his forefinger.

Referring now to Figs. 8, 9 and 10, I have shown a modified form of my invention in which the arm and stop are integrally connected in the form of a continuous wire. The extreme right shelf wire I6 is provided near its rear end with an offset portion l9. An arm I8 is pivoted on the shelf wire I6 at its forward end in the same manner as the arm l8 in the modification previously described. In order to prevent longitudinal movement of the arm l8 along the shelf wire IS, the arm is pivoted at its rear end at 23 between the offset portion [9 and a rear portion 24 of the shelf frame. Near its rear end the arm l8 extends upwardly and outwardly to form a stop 25 which rests on a side portion 26 of the frame and extends beyond the frame. In order to limit the pivoting of the arm l8 and of the stop 25 a wire 21, which extends upwardly from the frame portion 24, is provided. In the particular modification shown this wire forms part of the basket type shelf which is used to prevent food stored on the shelf from falling off the edge during normal sliding of the shelf. However, should a flat shelf be employed the wire 21 may simply extend upwardly from the frame of the flat shelf a suflicient distance to provide a limit for a movement of the arm l8.

Referring specifically to Fig. 10, the mechanism just described is shown in solid lines in the position it occupies during normal sliding usage of the shelf. As shown the stop 25 of the arm l8 extends beyond the portion 26 of the frame so that it is in line with the support 8. position it butts against the support 8 when the shelf is moved forwardly a predetermined amount and limits the sliding movement of the shelf. When it is desired to remove the shelf from the cabinet the user grips the shelf in the same manner as described in connection with the modification shown in Figs. 1-7, and this gripping causes a counterclockwise movement of the arm l8 and its associated stop 25 to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. The movement is limited by the wire 21 against which the arm 18 bears in the dotted line position. As shown in this figure, in the dotted line position the arm l8 and the associated stop 25 are disposed inwardly of the supports 8 and in this released position of to stop 25 the shelf may be withdrawn from the refrigerator. When the shelf is replaced in the refrigerator and the grip of the user is released the arm l8 and its associated stop 25 will resume the solid line position.

This return to the solid line position may be accomplished by the arrangement of the parts to secure a gravity bias as described previously. It can be seen from Fig. 10 that, even in the released (dotted line) position the center of gravity of the pivoted elements is located toward the side of the shelf relative to the pivot points and hence the weight of these elements causes the normal (solid line) position to be resumed automatically when the grip of the user is released. However, if desired, a resilient member may be employed to effect positive return to the solid line position. Such an alternative arrangement is illustrated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10. A resilient member in the form of a flat leaf spring 28 is welded at one end to a shelf wire l3. This spring 28 extends beneath the wire I6 and engages the arm Ill. The resilience of the spring 28 presses the arm I8 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 10 and resiliently biases the arm l8 and its associated stop 25 to the solid line position shown in Fig. 10. When a resilient member, such as the spring 28, is employed for biasing the arm and stop it is, of course, not necessary to arrange the center of gravity of the arm and stop toward the side of the shelf relative to the pivot point.

In this While no specific resilient biasing arrangement has been shown and described in connection with the shelf of Figs. 1 through 7, it will be apparent that a spring bias element such as that described in connection with Figs. 8 through 10 may also be there employed to effect the return of the stop I! and arm l8.

Although only the stop arrangement for the right-hand edge of the shelfhas been illustrated and described in the detailed figures, it is contemplated that a corresponding stop and release mechanism will be provided for the other side of the shelf, since this minimizes the possibility of binding and provides a more smoothly operating r arrangement. However, it will be apparent that,

if desired, the stop and release mechanism may be provided on only one side of the shelf.

While I have described my invention in connection with a refrigerator cabinet it will be apparent that it may be used in any apparatus wherein sliding shelves are employed. I intend, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop pivoted on said shelf for normally engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding mov.,ment of said shelf, said stop being biased to support-engaging position, means pivotally mounted on said shelf and extending forwardly beyond the center of said shelf for moving said stop against its bias to release said shelf for removal from said cabinet, said means comprising an arm extending along the side of said shelf in a substantially parallel spaced apart relationship and normally maintained in substantially the plane of said shelf, and means on said shelf for limiting the pivoting movement of said releasing means.

2. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop pivoted on said shelf for normally engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, said stop being gravitybiased to support-engaging position, means pivotally mounted on said shelf and extending forwardly beyond the center of said shelf for moving said stop against its gravity bias to release said shelf for removal from said cabinet, said means comprising an arm extending along the side of said shelf in a substantially parallel spaced apart relationship and normally maintained in substantially the plane of said shelf, and means on said shelf for limiting the pivoting movement of said releasing means.

3. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop pivoted on said shelf for normally engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, resilient means for biasing said stop to support-engaging position, means pivotally mounted on said shelf for moving said stop against the bias of said resilient means to release said shelf for removal from said cabinet, said pivotally mounted means comprising an arm extending along the side of said shelf in substantially parallel spaced apart relatlonship, and means on said shelf for limiting the pivoting movement of said releasing means.

4. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop pivoted on said shelf near the rear thereof and extending beyond a side of said shelf for engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, an arm pivoted on said shelf and secured to said stop, said arm being pivoted on the forward portion of said shelf and extending rearwardly along the side of said shelf in a substantially parallel spaced apart relationship, said arm being normally maintained in substantially the plane of said shelf whereby said arm is pivoted for pivoting said stop to release said stop when said shelf is gripped for removal from said cabinet.

5. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edge thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, and an arm pivoted at one end on the forward portion of said shelf and pivoted at its other end on said shelf near the rear thereof, said arm including a stop portion resting on said shelf and extending beyond a side thereof for engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, said arm extending along the side of said shelf in a substantially parallel spaced apart relationship and being normally maintained in substantially the plane of said shelf whereby said arm is moved about its pivots to release said stop portion when said shelf is gripped for removal from said cabinet.

6. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, a shelf comprising a frame and wires secured to said frame to form a supporting surface, supports mounted on said side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop pivoted on one of said wires, said stop being arranged to rest normally on said frame and extending beyond a side of said shelf for engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, said one of said wires including an offset portion for preventing movement of said stop longitudinally along said wire, an arm pivoted on said one of said wires and connected to said stop, said arm projecting beyond said side of said shelf and extending from the rear of said shelf to the forward portion thereof whereby said arm is pivoted for pivoting said stop to release said stop when said shelf is gripped for removal from said cabinet.

7. In a cabinet having interior rear and oppositely disposed side walls, shelf supports mounted onsaid side walls near the front edges thereof for slidably supporting said shelf, a stop for engaging one of said supports to limit the forward sliding movement of said shelf, and an arm pivotally mounted and secured to said stop to release said stop from its support-engaging portion, said shelf including a frame and a plurality of wires secured to said frame to form. a supporting surface, both said stop and said arm being pivotally mounted on one of said wires, said one of said wires including means for limiting the pivoting movement of said arm.'

DU VELLO A. FERGUSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Ahrens et a1. July' 2, 1946 

